Cancer survival rates vary sharply depending on where patients live in the UK, with some nearly 20 per cent more likely to die from the disease within a year of diagnosis, concerning new data has revealed.
The postcode gap is particularly stark for oropharyngeal cancer – a type of head and neck cancer – where patients in more deprived parts of the country are 13 per cent more likely to die within a year than those elsewhere.
Among men, the divide is even wider, with an 18 per cent higher risk of death within a year in these areas.
Habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol and eating a poor diet are all thought to increase the risk of many of these cancers – with experts from Cancer Research UK suggesting unhealthy lifestyles in deprived areas could be driving the disparity.
People in these areas are also less likely to take part in cancer screening and vaccination programmes, making them more susceptible to cancers triggered by infections, such as the human papillomavirus (HPV), as well as hepatitis B and C.
The analysis, based on patients’ home postcodes at the time of diagnosis, uses the Index of Multiple Deprivation – a measure that ranks areas across England based on factors including income, employment, education, health, housing and living environment.
Areas with the highest concentrations of deprivation – including parts of Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Knowsley, Kingston upon Hull and Manchester – consistently show the poorest cancer outcomes.
Neighbourhoods in Blackpool and parts of Liverpool also feature among the hardest hit for cancer survival.
By contrast, areas in Buckinghamshire, Surrey and South West London rank among the least deprived – and tend to have better survival rates.
According to Cancer Research UK analysis, almost half of excess cancer deaths linked to these regional differences are caused by lung cancer – the world’s biggest cancer killer.
Latest NHS figures show patients in the most deprived areas are nearly eight per cent more likely to die from the disease within a year of diagnosis.
In the Black Country in the West Midlands, only 43 per cent of women survive a year after a lung cancer diagnosis – nearly 20 per cent lower than rates seen in parts of London.
For men, chances of survival are even bleaker, with only 34 per cent of men in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin surviving their disease for a year.
However in affluent Surrey, around half of men diagnosed with lung cancer survive for at least a year.
The disparity remains for bowel cancer – which is currently on the rise in young people.
In some parts of the country, only around 75 per cent of patients survive for a year after diagnosis.
This is well below the UK average of 80 per cent, while in parts of North West London survival rates reach as high as 84 per cent.
Screening uptake appears to play a role.
According to Cancer Research UK, bowel cancer screening participation is around 57 per cent in the most deprived areas, compared with 76 per cent in the least deprived.
Breast cancer outcomes are high overall, but still vary by postcode – from around 94 per cent one-year survival in some areas to 97 per cent in the best-performing parts of the South.
For more aggressive cancers, the gap is even more stark.
Pancreatic cancer remains the deadliest, with just 30 per cent surviving a year and fewer than one in ten reaching five years.
In parts of the North West, only around 23 per cent of men make it to the one-year mark.
Experts say lifestyle factors including smoking, obesity and alcohol use are likely to be driving part of the divide.
Despite one person now being diagnosed with cancer in the UK every 75 seconds, the Government says new measures could help improve outcomes.
As part of its National Cancer Plan, launched in February, hospitals will expand the use of ‘liquid biopsies’ – blood tests that detect tiny fragments of tumour DNA – alongside advanced genetic analysis to match patients to the most effective treatments.
However, delays remain a major concern.
The NHS target is for 85 per cent of patients to begin treatment within 62 days of referral, but this has not been met since 2014.
Experts warn that such delays allow cancers to progress – worsening survival chances and widening the gap between different parts of the country.